As part of a full, multi-topic interview with Pete Sampson, ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick discussed the status of the future Notre Dame Fighting Irish football schedule, and made sure to make it clear he wants to revive the Shamrock Series as well as finalize another international game in the 2020s.
Some of you just read that sentence and probably said “Heck yes, I love that news! Nothing cooler than my favorite team playing games in neat places and spreading the Notre Dame #brand to new geographies!”
Side note: if you did say that, especially in those words, please have yourself a long, hard look in the mirror.
Anyway, as a response to you saying that, I would say the following, and then I would walk away from the conversation, because in my eyes, it’s not even an argument:
“Oh yeah? You love playing terrible teams in stadiums not always filled to capacity, robbing students of another home game and jacking up the already-ridiculous ticket prices because of the ‘experience’? You love when your favorite college football team doesn’t play games on a college campus, but rather in some professional stadium not even necessarily designed for the sport of football?
“Or maybe you’re just really excited that the football team is not only going to move a would-be-home-game away from campus, but also move it overseas, prohibiting the vast majority of students from being able to attend, even if they had the time and desire to make a trip. Is that it?
“Or maybe it’s much simpler — you just love the generally terrible alternate uniforms that come with these special games. There’s nothing like seeing the perfect and simple Notre Dame uniforms cast asunder so that we can see the Irish come out in ugly helmets and weird shades of green.”*
*I’d like to clarify that I’m not someone who hates every single alternate uniform ND has had. The 2013 Arizona State game, for instance, featured some cool uniforms. But otherwise, almost always, the uniforms for these games feature at least one thing that sucks — helmet, jersey or pants — and oftentimes it’s more than one of those things.
The Notre Dame football program isn’t missing brand power or the ability to reach a national/international audience, and these “cool” jerseys clearly aren’t helping us with recruiting.
No, Notre Dame football is missing good coaching and victories over elite opponents occurring at least semi-regularly. Wasting time and money and reputation trying to do these “special games” is just wrong — the negatives far outweigh the positives, and the students and fans deserve better from Swarbrick.
What do you guys think? Sound off in the comments, and also please use this nifty poll I added because I like adding polls to articles:
Poll
What do you think of the Shamrock Series games and of Notre Dame scheduling games in other countries?
This poll is closed
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37%
I’m not a fan, I agree with Pat, and he is the greatest at forming opinions about how to schedule college football games
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26%
Pat is a damn moron and I disagree with his general views, opinions, principles, and values
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36%
You can’t ask about two things in one question, these choices do not cover all possible opinions. My vote is for Pat being bad at making polls
ND Football DT Commitment Accepts All-American Game Invite
Fresh off an impressive showing at The Opening, Notre Dame’s top defensive line commitment in the 2018 class, Jayson Ademilola, has officially accepted an invitation to play in the Army All-American Bowl this coming January:
Blessed to be invited and now committed to the U.S Army All- American Game! #3StripeLife @ArmyAllAmerican pic.twitter.com/3wgrnqcDou
— Jayson k. Ademilola (@jaysonademilola) July 11, 2017
Ademilola has been shooting up the recruiting rankings of late, and is currently ranked 46th overall in the 2018 class by 247sports. The Irish hope they can hold onto the talented defensive lineman (as well as his twin brother Justin) all the way to signing day, as he could come in and make an immediate impact in 2018.
Notre Dame Hoops Stories
Today I went football-heavy, but I couldn’t get through a whole article without sending a few ND basketball links your way:
- CBS Sports has the Fighting Irish ranked 13th in their updated preseason rankings — the hype is beginning to mount for BONZIE COLSON, Matty Farrell, and the rest of this year’s squad
- Here’s a good article on TJ Gibbs’ offseason transformation
- And here’s a good read on Juwan Durham and how he’s embracing the opportunity at ND